[stcredzero]

My alternative for about $45 US in equipment. Buy an Aeropress (~$30) and a cheap hand burr grinder from Amazon. (~$11) Always buy freshly roasted beans. Read and follow the instructions that come with Aeropress. Water temperature matters! Stirring duration matters! But if you can simply follow instructions, it's very easy to get consistent results.

If you're a bit lazy, you can substitute a cheap blade grinder, and still have the same equipment outlay.

[joezydeco]

I’m super lazy. I skip all the beans and grinding and just use Cafe Bustelo. It’s great coffee and works really well in an Aeropress.

$4 per 10 ounce can.

[stcredzero]

You can make most anything halfway decent taste good or at least non-offensive with an Aeropress. Just reduce extraction time and increase or decrease temperature.